the housemates for general coverage at 10:00 a.m. and returns to legislative work to debate the paycheck fairness act that aims to close the salary gap for women and minorities. lawmakers are considering a revolution on president trump's proposed ban on transgender members of the armed forces. on c-span two, the senate considers whether. to officially begin debate on emergency disaster spending in the morning on c-span3, members of the armed services committee meet on national security challenges in the indo pacific region. later at 12:30 p.m., secretary of state mike pompeo testifies about u.s. foreign-policy strategy and the 2020 budget proposal for the state department. secretary of state mike pompeo told reporters at the state department that the trump administration went withhold funding from many

nongovernmental organization that provides funding for lobbies in favor of abortions. he said it was a policy designed, quote, "to protect human beings." this is 10 minutes. [overlapping chatter] sec. pompeo: good morning, everyone. today i am making two announcements about the state department's ongoing efforts to ensure that u.s. taxpayer dollars are not used to subsidize or promote abortions. the first announcement concerns

the so-called mexico city policy. this reagan-era directive ensures u.s. taxpayer dollars aren't used to support foreign, nongovernmental organizations that perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning. president trump boldly expanded the mexico city policy in 2017. it now protects every human life impacted by the nearly $9 billion of foreign aid we spend on global health programs each year and in turn protects more unborn babies around the world than ever before. this is decent. this is right. and i'm proud to serve an administration that protects the least amongst us. now, two years into our administration, the vast majority of our implementing partners have agreed to comply with the policy, and they continue to work with us. this administration has shown we can continue to meet our critical global health goals, including providing health care for women, while refusing to subsidize the killings of unborn babies. as secretary of state, i've directed our team to take all appropriate action to implement this policy to the broadest extent possible. today i am announcing further refinements to advance our efforts to protect the least amongst us. as before, we will continue to refuse to provide assistance to foreign ngo's who perform or

actively promote abortion as a method of family planning. now, as a result of my decision today, we are also making clear we will refuse to provide assistance to foreign ngo's that give financial support to other foreign groups in the global abortion industry. we will enforce a strict prohibition on backdoor funding schemes and end runs around our policy. american taxpayer dollars will not be used to underwrite abortions. this brings me to my second announcement. we are also fully enforcing federal law prohibiting the use of u.s. funds, including foreign assistance, to lobby for or against abortion. otherwise known as the soldier under amendment. silgander amendment.

in light of recent evidence of abortion-related advocacy by an organ of the organization of american states, i directed my team to include a provision in assistance that explicitly prohibits the use of funds to lobby for or against abortion. the institutions of the o.a.s. should be focused on addressing crises in cuba, nicaragua, and venezuela, not in advancing the pro-abortion cause. and to ensure our message is heard loud and clear, we will reduce our contributions to the o.a.s. a reduction equals the estimated u.s. share of possible o.a.s. expenditures on these abortion-related activities. the american people should rest assured that this administration and this state department and our usaid will do all we can to safeguard u.s. taxpayer dollars and protect and respect the sanctity of life for people all around the globe. i will take a couple questions. >yes. >> thank you. mr. secretary, some people have called the mexico city policy trump's global gag rule.

what is the problem with describing it as this, and do you take exception to that description? sec. pompeo: yeah, i mean, that's silly. this is a policy that is designed fundamentally to protect human beings. it is not a policy we're arguing about. we are talking about human live. our mission statement is very clear. we can achieve, as i talked about, all the global health objectives that are so important, so imperative. the great work that many of these foreign ngo's do, without running the risk that they will be used to perform abortions or advocate for abortions. this is important. it is deeply consistent with the most moral behavior of governments, and we're determined to make sure that we don't allow taxpayers' dollars to get to these places. yes. >> can you be a little bit more explicit about which organ of the o.a.s.? is it paho? sec. pompeo: we will be happy to provide you with more details. >> and then secondly, on a different -- well, not slightly different.

a lot different. are you disappointed at all that -- of the reaction from the u.n. chief, from canada, from turkey , and the gulf states about the -- in essence, saying they're not going to sign on to the golan recognition and they don't -- and they are going to uphold the security council resolution that found annexation null and void? sec. pompeo: well, i am saddened by that but not surprised. i remember the move to jerusalem of our embassy as well. in each case, we are simply recognizing facts on the ground and the reality and doing the right thing. we hope those nations will join us to understand how important that is, how right it is. and we are continuing to have conversations with -- you mentioned a handful of countries -- with each of them this issue, about our decision and why we believe this is fundamentally the right decision as well. >> thank you. hi, mr. secretary. just to follow up on the golan.

yesterday, prime minister netanyahu said that basically he is entitled to keep it because they won it by war. are you saying that powerful countries can actually overtake land over international law? sec. pompeo: yes, ma'am. let us a good question. that is a good question. the answer is absolutely not. this is an incredibly unique situation. israel was fighting a defensive battle to save its nation. it cannot be the case that a u.n. resolution is a suicide pact. it simply can't be. and that is the reality that president trump recognized in his executive order yesterday. carolshington post," marilla. carol: mr. secretary, many of the ngo's that provide health care on the ground, particularly in africa and some asian countries, tell a totally different story than what you do. they say that this is particularly hurtful to health

care, to women in the rural areas, and in fact it will lead to greater -- more pregnancies and inevitably to more abortions. is there -- how do you respond to this? is there anything you're doing or can do -- sec. pompeo: they're just wrong. they are just wrong about that, carol. this argument has been presented for an awfully long time. and they're just factually wrong about that. the moneys that this administration is providing for global health remain -- we are working hard, we're working alongside those ngo's that do phenomenal work. and the theory that somehow not protecting every human life is destroying human life is perverse on its face. >> if you're cutting back on

funding for this, would you expand it in any other areas connected to what carol was saying, on social development, gender equality, and anything on women's maternal health in developing countries? sec. pompeo: yeah. i think the trump administration has made clear since the beginning of the administration that the total dollars allocated for women's health issues and global health issues remains unchanged. we are just ensuring that those dollars aren't used to underwrite abortions. something that's required -- in federal law. >> last question. >> mr. secretary, one more on this topic. you said that the important to protect the sanctity of life and talking about some of these -- on the ground. they have to make the choice of getting federal funds or keep providing things like h.i.v. and tuberculosis funding. last near 940,000 people died of hiv-aids. 1.6 million died of tuberculosis. are you prioritizing preventing abortions over services that could be provided to save those lives, and how does that fit in with -- [inaudible] -- ...

sec. pompeo: i not sure i am understand your question. the united states provides an enormous set of resources to prevent death from h.i.v. america is the most generous nation in the history of the world with respect to the particular instance of -- these two don't run cross-purpose. one need not perform abortions nod to protect people from -- in order to protect people from h.i.v. they are fundamentally disconnected. so there is no prioritization there. we still consider pepfar and all of the activities, the global health anywhere that the united states government and the state department in particular underwrite, to be central to achieving objectives that are important for the world and important for the united states. >> so are you forcing these ngo's to make a choice between providing this service and receiving u.s. funds? sec. pompeo: no. they simply are prohibited from doing these things that run counter to the united states' policy, which is not to use u.s. taxpayer dollars to underwrite abortion. that's all.

one more. one more? go ahead. >> mr. secretary, what is the u.s. asking for from china with regards to its people of tibet and muslims, protecting their what's taking place with respect to the uighurs is tragic. the numbers are in the certainly hundreds of thousands. this is, i think we use the words historic human rights abuse. and we're working to convince the chinese that this practice is abhorrent and ought to be stopped.

great. thank you all very much. have a great day. >> the house foreign affairs committee live on c-span3. president trump holds a campaign rally in grand rapids, michigan. live coverage at 7:00 p.m. eastern thursday on c-span. c-span's "washington journal," live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. morning, vermont democratic congressman peter welch discusses william barr's summary of special counsel robert mueller's report. institute's grace-marie turner discusses the future of the affordable care act. ruger onll call's todd protecting schools from mass shootings. c-span's "washington